truth or lambchop?

when are we old enough to know? are we mature enough to understand when we’re able to understand? if you can mentally understand the logistics of how babies are made, are you mature enough to know about sex? if you still believe in the pelican theory, are you too young to know? I mean, I’m pretty sure if you had tried to tell 5-year-old me that you put that in there, and nine months later out pops me, i would’ve looked at you like you had just told me Mr. Rogers was actually a magical unicorn that chameleoned into a man every day when I got back from kindergarten for a half hour. I also would’ve asked something stupid in my incredulous state, like, does that mean Mr. Rogers has one of those too???

if you figure out santa’s not real, are you old enough to know things aren’t always what they seem? that reality is just what you believe is real? that people’s realities differ? that reality is simply what you’ve been taught, unless you choose to question it? if you haven’t begun to understand doubt yet, can you still believe that all dreams come true? is it better to believe that? or is it better to know the truth (that work is a necessary evil and that dreams are realized in either victories or vacations, which are always too short, or families or love, which are always too dysfunctional)? should there be a little bit of both? if Christians tout truth as being so virtuous (“I am the way, the truth, and the life”), then where does that leave belief? if Allah is the truth because you believe he is the truth, then what happens when you start to doubt your beliefs? is he still the truth? is it really that bad to believe something that isn’t true? well, maybe.... since the truth is, jews aren't meant to be exterminated, blacks aren't meant to be slaves, suicide bombers don’t get rewarded, no weapons of mass destruction are in Iraq, grudges between African tribes are not worth holding, Chinese babies shouldn’t be murdered if they’re not boys, she’s been cheating on him, he’s not her real father, and that doctor never got a medical degree (woah, sucks that you got that lypo without a background check, huh..).

But..., also true: people kill out of hate, his dad was a drunk, people will not always love you the way you want them to, eating canned spinach won’t make you spontaneously grow muscles, no one knows if all dogs go to heaven, your dreams might not come true, nobody really thinks your art is masterful, china & japan are not the only 2 asian countries… things no 5-year-old really needs to know.

I tend to like the truth, even if it is usually exhausting, inconvenient, and/or just terrible. because if it is, then I want to know about it. but believing is necessary too… because I don’t understand everything. Apparently I’m not old enough yet.

Just don’t tell me Mr. Rogers was a unicorn. I’d rather believe he was a friendly old man who always hung his coat up and had a fun choo-choo train. I already had a rough patch when I found out Lambchop was a puppet. No Santa, no Easter bunny, no tooth fairy, no Peter Pan, no Lambchop, no Big Bird, no Smurf village. Damn those childhood liars.